Pak trying to replicate Afghan strategy in J&K

19 October 1999Daily Excelsior

NEW DELHI: Army Chief Gen V P Malik has said Pakistan is attempting
to replicate in Jammu and Kashmir the military strategy
it followed in Afghanistan with its Army regulars and
militants working as a single entity.

State-sponsored militancy
and terrorism by Pakistan today is replication of its
Afghanistan strategy ... Today there is a greater
collusion of the Pakistani Army regulars and the
so-called Mujahedeens or militants. They are definitely
working now as a single entity and not separate forces,
Malik said during an interaction with editors of PTI at
its head office here.

The Army Chief said a
special operation to search and destroy militant hideouts
has been launched in the North and South of Peer Panjal
ranges dividing the Kashmir valley from the Jammu region.

Referring to the current
state of Pak-sponsored militancy, he said the militants
were now better equipped and obviously better controlled
by the Pakistan Army through its communications network.

What people do not
understand is that ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) is
not a separate entity. Officers go to ISI from the armed
forces and return to them, Malik said, adding that ISI
was adjunct of the armed forces.

The Army Chief said radio
intercepts of the militants showed how happy they were
about the military takeover in Pakistan.

Malik said there was a
setback in the fight against militancy when certain units
of the armed forces were moved from the Valley to Kargil
sector in May last.

We did not have enough
troops for offensive operations (against militants). The
paramilitary forces were by and large protective and were
not going in for offensive operations, he said, adding
some forces were later brought back to resume offensive
anti-militancy operations.

However, since then there
has been improvement in the situation and September was a
good month during which a large number of militants were
killed.

He said these days we have
launched certain major operations, both North and South
of Peer Panjal ranges, basically to bust militant
hideouts in the jungles and in the mountains. We are
using more force for these operations.

The Army Chief said the
problem facing India and the international community was
that Pakistan has become a breeding ground for militancy
and terrorism.

For the Army, war neither
began nor ended with the Kargil operations. The Army has
been engaged by Pakistan in a proxy war which has gone on
for ten years, Malik said.

Referring to the proxy
wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Lebanon, the Army Chief
said such a war goes slow, lasts long and less attention
is paid by the media, the international community or even
our Governments.

Kargil is linked to what
has been happening elsewhere. Regular (Pakistani) Army
troops tried to put on a facade of militants and look
like them, he said.

Malik said while 969 Army
personnel were killed between 1990 and 1998 in
anti-militancy operations in J and K, this year the Army
has suffered 382 casualties till last month.

But with the operations
against militants being stepped up in September, he said
145 militants had been killed during the month and 177
weapons recovered. (PTI)